Method of moving and resetting tile walls



Dec. 8, 1936.

E. OLSEN METHOD OF MOVING AND RESETTING TILE WALLS Filed May 29, 1935'IIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIIII g IIIIIIIII Patented Dec. 8, 1936 UNITED STATESMETHOD OF MOVING AND RESETTING TILE WALLS Edward Olsen, St. Paul, Minn.,assignor to Alexander H. Cathcart and Louis A. Villaume, St.

Paul, Minn.

Application May 29, 1935, Serial No. 24,011

7 Claims.

This is a method of moving building walls from one place to another, andfor resetting them, so that a tile or similar wall in a building may bereadily moved from one place to another and reset into position where itmay serve as a wall or partition to divide the building into difierentrooms. In ofiice buildings or other buildings where hollow tile wallsare used to divide up the interior of the building into different sizedrooms, heretofore when it was desired to change any of these walls theyhad to be taken down and ordinarily the hollow tile blocks which made upthe wall were cracked and destroyed to such an extent that aconsiderable waste took place. With my method these tile walls may bereadily moved from one place to another and reset into position so thatthey may be used as a partition wall at a very small expense. With mymethod it is only necessary to disengage the wall around the edgesthereof from the ceiling of the building, adjoining walls and the floor,and then the wall may be moved or shifted to the position desired. Thissaving in office buildings where it is often desired to redivide thespace or rearrange the rooms, is very material and thus my method ishighly desirable for this purpose.

A feature resides in providing pairs of dolly brackets which inaccordance with my method are attached to the wall which is to be movedby placing the dolly brackets of the pair directly opposite of eachother on either side of the Wall and bolting the dolly brackets to thewall or partition. Several pairs of these dolly brackets may be used inproportion to the size of the wall. Thus the method is particularlyapplicable to moving hollow tile walls with plastered surfaces, such asare commonly used in office buildings and the like and prevents thenecessity of tearing down or breaking up the entire wall, therebypreventing waste of material.

In office buildings the walls are usually uniform in character and aremade of hollow tile or other suitable material so as to providesoundproof walls between the oflices, so that usually the wall or majorportion thereof can be salvaged intact by employing my method for movingand resetting the same into the desired position In carrying out mymethod it is desirable to provide dolly brackets of any desired size.This is usually determined by the height of the walls in the particularbuilding. Each dolly bracket includes a base portion which is supportedupon the floor by swivelled caster wheels which will permit the dolly toreadily run in any direction. Extending in a right angular manner fromthe base member I provide a wall surface engaging upright and bysuitable bracing means the upright is braced to the base portion. Theupright is adapted to extend at right angles from one end of the basemember of the dolly so as to provide a triangular-like dolly brace of astrong and substantial nature capable of supporting a heavy tile wall ora wall of a similar character when a pair of these dollies are attachedto the wall preferably directly opposite each other.

Further the method includes wedge or other suitable means forco-operating with the base of the dolly to raise the same slightly fromthe floor so as to hold the dolly stationary and against rolling on thecaster wheels during the disen-"lo gagement of the wall and during theresetting thereof. These members form an adjustable means for moving thedolly brackets so as to square up the wall in resetting the same,holding it stationary in the desired position.

The drawing illustrates the manner in which my method is carried out.

In Figure l I have illustrated the wall of a room to which the dollybrackets have been attached, showing one side of the same with theadjustable Wedge members holding the dollies stationary and showing indotted lines the edge portion of the wall which is cut away to free thewall from the ceiling, walls and floor.

Figure 2 illustrates a perspective of a Wall supported by pairs of mydolly brackets.

Figure 3 illustrates an end view of a wall held by my dolly bracketswith the wedges positioned under the dollies so as to square up the wallin the desired position and taking the weight of the wall off of thecasters.

In carrying out my method, when it is desirable to move a wall such as Aof a building, I attach two or more pairs of dolly brackets such as B tothe same with the brackets extending on either side of the wall.Suitable holes are bored through the wall A so that the brackets B maybe secured by the bolts Ill. The bolts 10 extend through the wall so asto securely attach the brackets to the same on either side thereof, asillustrated in Figures 1 and 3.

Each dolly bracket B is formed with a base portion H which is adapted tobe supported by the swivel casters l2 so that the dollies may movefreely in any direction. Extending upright fromfi the base flush withone end thereof, I provide the wall engaging upright member l3 which isadapted to be rigidly secured in upright position by the brace member M.The upright member [3 is formed with a series of holes l5 through whichbolts I!) are adapted to extend so as to bolt a pair of dolly brackets Bpositioned on either side of the wall A. When the dolly brackets B havebeen properly attached to the wall A, it is desirable to position thebrackets rigidly in place by inserting adjustable wedge members llbeneath the base I l in a, manner to hold the dollies B rigid. Then themethod is carried out by cutting the outer peripheral edge of the wall Aas indicated by the dotted line it in Figure 1, thus freeing the wall Afrom the ceiling, side walls and floor of the building. When the wall isout free, the wedges H may be removed and thereupon the dolly brackets Bwill act to carry the wall to the desired position.

Then the wall A is reset into the desired position by using suitablewedge members H to square the wall in the building and to set it rigidlyin position so that the outer peripheral edges may be built onto it tocomplete the wall structure in providing a partition in the building.

It will be apparent that by my method a tile plastered wall may readilybe moved in practically its entirety from one position to the other,thus permitting the ordinary oihce building to operate more economicallyin the rearranging of partitions to form the desired rooms in abuilding, thus doing away with former wasteful method of tearing downand rebuilding walls at a much greater expense than where my method isemployed. It will be apparent that the Wall A when moved in the mannerdescribed may be repositioned as desired and at a small cost the edgesof the wall may be completed to anchor it in the desired position.

With my method considerable time is saved as well as permitting themovement of walls economically because it saves in the use of tile andmaterial, including the plaster, as Well as the labor. Therefore, mymethod is very desirable.

The dolly brackets 13 may be made of any suitable material such as wood,where it is desired to have the same of a light-weight yet havingsufficient strength to support the wall, or these brackets may be madeof any other suitable strong material. It is desirable that the bracketsbe made up in a manner so that the parts thereof are connected togetherto form a strong supporting dolly bracket which when connected to thewall, provides ample bracing means to hold the same firmly so that itcan be moved easily from place to place without danger of cracking thewall while it is being moved. With my method it is only necessary to cutaway a small portion of the margin of the wall so that it may be setfree, thereby saving the major portion of the wall.

My method is applicable to any omce building or other building where itis frequently necessary to change partition walls to suit the tenants;or other places Where it is desirable to move walls or partitions ofthis character.

It is apparent my method may be carried out in the manner set forth orin such manner as may be apparent to anyone skilled in the art and suchapparatus may be employed as would assist in the best embodiment of themethod in a simple and economical manner within the scope of theappending claims:

I claim:

1. The method of moving tile and similar building walls comprisingattaching to the wall bracket members having caster wheels, then cuttingthe marginal edge of the wall away to free the wall from the connectingmembers of the building, then moving the wall to the desired positionand resetting it to provide a partition at a different place.

2. The method of repositioning hollow tile walls and the like comprisingperforating the wall at dififerent points, then attaching bracket dollymeans by bolts extending through the perforations in the wall and thedollies, then applying skids under the dollies to rigidly set the same,then cutting the marginal edge of the wall free, after which removingthe skids and moving the wall to the desired position, whereupon theskids reset the dollies in rigid position to square the wall into properposition, and then buildng the wall into completion to form a partitionof a room.

3. The method of moving hollow tile partition walls and the like ofbuildings consisting in attaching on opposite sides of the wall pairs ofdollies which are provided with caster wheels on the base of the same bybolting the dollies securely to the wall, then rigidly positioning thedollies against movement on their caster Wheels, then cutting away themarginal edge of the wall, whereupon the dollies are set free so as tomove the wall from one place to another While firmly braced by the dollybrackets.

l. The method of repositioning inside plastered partition walls ofbuildings comprising first bolting to either side of the wall dollybrackets which have supporting caster wheels which permit the dollies tomove in any direction, then setting the dolly brackets against movement,then freeing the outer edges of the wall from the building, and thenreleasing the dolly brackets so as to move the wall as desired.

5. The method of moving plastered partition walls of buildings inpractically their entirety consisting in bracing the wall from eitherside thereof by attached braces which extend in a manner to brace thewall to be moved from either side, then releasing the outer edges of thewall from adjoining portions of the building, and moving the wall withthe braces attached thereto to support the same while being moved, andresetting the wall in the desired position by adjusting the braces tosquare the wall in relation to the building, and building up the edgesof the wall to complete the same.

6. The method of moving interior tile or similar walls of buildingscomprising anchoring pairs of dolly carriers to the wall to be moved,then placing wedges under the carriers to hold them stationary, thencutting the wall free of the building around its edge, then removing thewedges and moving the wall by the carriers to the position desired.

7. The method of moving a heavy tile wall or the like in the interior ofa building consisting in attaching pairs of carriers to the oppositesides of the wall, then cutting the outer edge of the wall away andmoving the wall by the carriers to the desired position and thenadjusting the carriers to square the wall in the building in the desiredposition, and then building in complemental wall portions around thewall that was moved to complete the wall by building up the outer edgesthereof to the ceiling, walls and floor of the building.

EDWARD OLSEN.

